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Why “Being Accountable” Fails for Almost Everyone

  • Writer: Scott Peckford
    Scott Peckford
  • Jan 25
  • 2 min read

People don’t want accountability, what they want is change.


They want to become consistent at something that matters.


Accountability is just the mechanism.


Here is how it actually works.


The right accountability creates consistency.

Consistency creates results.

Repeated results create a new identity.


Once identity shifts, the behavior sticks.


That is where most change fails.


People try to do something new without becoming someone new.


That never lasts.


External accountability is the onramp to personal accountability.


At first, you borrow discipline from someone else.

Eventually, it becomes self fueled.

Your identity changes.

The habit becomes permanent.


Most people get this wrong.


They become “accountable” to someone they do not really care about disappointing.

When they miss a commitment, nothing happens.


No consequence.


No emotional cost.


So nothing changes.


I have a broker friend who solved this in a simple and powerful way.


He made himself accountable to someone who matters.


His daughter.


Like most brokers, he has daily commitments he wants to follow through on.

Each day, he emails his daughter what he completed.


She has her own daily commitments.

She emails him back at the end of the day.


If they both follow through for the week, she gets a booster juice after practice on Saturday.


If they do not, she does not.


This works for two reasons.


First, he is accountable to someone he does not want to let down.

Second, there is a clear carrot and stick.


Do the work. Get the reward.

Do not do the work. Lose the reward.


This is the right kind of accountability.


It creates consistency.

Consistency creates results.

Results create a new identity.


I have no doubt this broker is about to have a record year.


The goal of accountability is not compliance.


The goal is change.


And the fastest way to create lasting change is to be accountable to someone you do not want to disappoint until you become the kind of person who no longer needs the reminder.


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